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WOODEN FIGURINES, SCEPTERS, AND RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN MAYA SOCIETY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2004

Keith M. Prufer ,
Phil Wanyerka  and
Monica Shah
Keith M. Prufer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Auburn University, 7030 Haley Center, Auburn, AL 36849-5256, USA
Phil Wanyerka
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, USA
Monica Shah
Affiliation:
Shah Conservation, 1334 E. 27th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99501, USA
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Abstract

Wooden figurines, idols, and scepters are commonly depicted as paraphernalia in Classic-period ritual iconography, but few examples of these objects exist. In 1999, a small wooden figurine was recovered from a cave near the Late Classic center of Muklebal Tzul in the Maya Mountains of southern Belize. It probably represents an ancestral deity or historical figure. Its recovery from a cave is appropriate. Caves functioned as arenas for legitimizing ancestral relationships through mediation with earth-focused deities. Combining analysis and interpretation of the archaeological context with a reading of documentary sources, we review the role of ancestor figurines in Maya society and offer interpretations of how this and similar objects functioned in Classic-period Maya religion and ritual.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , October 2003 , pp. 219 - 236
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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